Midwest Meetings | Education/Certification News & Views

Latest Education/Certification News & Views...

5 Great Blogs That Make Me a Better Event Planner

Not too long ago, if you wanted to sharpen your event planning skills, you needed to sign up for a course. Today, with the wealth of information on the web, learning just got a whole lot easier AND more accessible, especially through thought leader blogs.
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The Elusive Contract Clause by @AdamSchomaker

Your event contract is set, signed, and you’re ready to work on the logistics. Then, something happens, something unforeseen. You have to cancel, the weather is bad, a strike. It all comes snowballing down on you and you’re wondering, what’s next, are we protected?

PCMA Annual Meeting Attracts Record Attendance in San Diego

Renewed optimism and enthusiasm appeared to be the overall tenor at the Professional Convention Management Association’s annual meeting, Convening Leaders. Held at the San Diego Convention Center Jan. 8-11, the 56th annual event for meeting professionals and industry suppliers drew an all-time high in participation. Full story...

SMMP: An Entry- to Mid-Level Planner's Guide

After your event, do you just jump to the next program, or do you debrief and use that history for the betterment of your event programs and the company at large? When you have several events or meetings in rapid succession, do you capture information as best you can? Were there loopholes, opportunities to plan better? Could you have saved money? Full story...

Viewing PCMA As a New Attendee

In a few short days, I will be joining many of the most passionate and committed professionals in the face-to-face industry. Convening Leaders, PCMA’s annual convention, begins this weekend in San Diego and I look forward to the experience every year. But what I am realizing is that the best way for me to engage at Convening Leaders this year is to act as if it’s the first time I have attended. It’s time for me to challenge how I typically approach educational forums. Full story...

Date Change: Incentive Travel Exchange to Commence June 17

Incentive Travel Exchange, held in partnership with Site, announced it is moving its 2012 event to accommodate the needs of the incentive travel community in North America. The seventh annual Incentive Travel Exchange will be held June 17-19, 2012 at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. Full story...

FICP 2011 Launched with High-Energy Networking

The Financial & Insurance Conference Planners Annual Conference opened November 13 with the association’s unique “un” trade show—The Network. With no elaborate booths or collateral to get in the way of conversation, nearly 650 planners and hospitality partners gathered at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio to launch this year’s meeting experience by getting right down to business, meeting old friends and new partners at simple tabletops. Full story...

PCMA Launches Corporate Planners Conference

The Professional Conference Management Association launched a Global Corporate Summit, an invitation-only event for senior professionals responsible for global corporate planning. The inaugural event, taking place next year, will be held July 22-26 in Glasgow, Scotland. “PCMA’s corporate planner membership has grown by 67% this past year, and it is vital that key corporate planners exchange ideas and learnings on topics that will affect our businesses now and well into the future,” said David Peckinpaugh, CMP, president of Maritz Travel Company. Full story...

Chicago Southland CVB to Host Religious Meeting and Family Reunion Seminars

The Chicago Southland Convention & Visitors Bureau will offer two free separate seminars for religious meeting planners and family reunion planners at the end of November at the Chicago Southland CVB office in Lansing, IL. The first will focus on how the CVB can assist church pastors and staff with their meetings and events or how to bring their larger meetings to the Chicago Southland. Full story...

A Smart Approach to SMMP (Part 2)

The following checklist was compiled by Kari Kesler Wendel, senior director of SMM Program Management + Solutions for Minneapolis-based Carlson Wagonlit Travel Meetings & Events. The framework outlined here, adapted from CWT Vision, provides a practical approach to setting the foundation for a strategic meetings management program. Full story...

How to Get Value From Small Business Conferences

There are a number of benefits available to business owners who attend small business conferences and live events. The opportunities for learning, connecting and growing are simply hard to find anywhere else. But attending a small business conference and getting the value from it takes preparation. Follow these tips to make the most out of the next conference you attend. Full story...

IMEX America Fulfills Expectations

Feedback from over 2,000 hosted buyers, 1,700 attendees, and nearly 2,000 exhibitors who attended the debut of IMEX America last week confirms that the new tradeshow for the meetings, incentive travel and events industry lived up to its promise of delivering high-quality business, networking, and professional education. Full story...

Meetings Beyond Logistics: Principles, Practices and Play

Why is it acceptable for meeting attendees to play a round of golf, but not to play with toys? Why is the idea of play so looked down upon? Joan Eisenstodt questions our assumptions about common meeting practices and challenges meeting organizers to plan uncommonly exceptional events in this interactive session. Full story...

HSMAI Foundation Announces Recipients Of Scholarship Program

Six students pursuing careers in hospitality sales and marketing have been awarded scholarships from the Foundation of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI). Five students were awarded HSMAI’s merit scholarships, sponsored by American Express, and one student received the first annual HSMAI Foundation Mike Dimond Scholarship for graduate students in the field of hospitality. Full story...

Get Ready to Be Inspired By RCMA's 2012 Keynote Speakers

RCMA has announced keynote speakers for its 40th World Conference & Expo, January 24-27 in Kansas City, MO. These talented presenters come from all walks of life and are guaranteed to inspire, energize, and wow their RCMA audience. Full story...

111 Minority Hospitality Students Receive Scholarships

The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF), the not-for-profit affiliate of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), is awarding 265 scholarships totaling almost $400,000 this year, of which approximately 42% will go to minority hospitality management students. Of its ten scholarship programs, two are dedicated specifically for minority students. Full story...

GBTA Academy Launched, SMMC Program Shuts Down

The Global Business Travel Association is discontinuing its Strategic Meetings Management Certification program, which launched just two years ago, as part of a major overhaul of its professional education. During a press conference at its annual convention in Denver, GBTA announced the formation of GBTA Academy, which will replace the existing Corporate Travel Expert (CTE), Certified Corporate Travel Executive (CCTE), and SMMC programs. Full story...

St. Louis Welcomes ASAE Members

More than 5,000 people are slated to attend the 2011 American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Annual Meeting and Exposition in early August - a signal event of the meetings industry that is taking place in St. Louis this year. Kathleen “Kitty” Ratcliffe, President of the St. Louis CVC, stands ready to welcome what is termed by some the "Super Bowl" of conventions. “Member associations dominate this $102 billion meetings industry," said Ratcliffe. Full story...

World Conference on Disaster Management Coming Up

The World Conference on Disaster Management (WCDM) is the pre-eminent conference of its kind - providing you with the opportunity to gain valuable education, training and best practices to assist you, your organization and your community mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies and disaster. The 2011 WCDM will offer a unique and distinguished experience in a climate that fosters change. Full story...

Registration Open for USGBC's Annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo

The U.S. Green Building Council's Greenbuild International Conference & Expo convenes the industry's largest gathering of representatives from all sectors of the green building movement. Three days of extensive educational programming, workshops, a vast exhibition floor, and ample networking events provide unrivaled opportunities to learn about the latest technological innovations, explore new products, and exchange ideas with other professionals. Greenbuild is the three-time recipient of IMEX Green Meetings Award. The 2011 show will be held October 4-7, 2011 in Toronto, Canada. Full story...

Get Certified!

Is 2012 the year you will earn your Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation? Have you planned to look into the application requirements, but put it off? Then stop reading this post and do it! If you need to be convinced as to how it would benefit you, here are three good reasons. Full story...

Event Planning Conferences You May Want to Consider

Event planning conferences are a great way to further your career as well as network with industry colleagues. In this age, we’re becoming very accustomed to conducting our meetings virtually. However, having some face-to-face time with educators and peers within your industry is a great way to stay connected. As 2012 approaches, a couple of the industry’s largest associations members will be getting ready for their annual or regular meetings. Full story...

MPI Opens Essential Event Measurement Toolbox

Today at EIBTM, Meeting Professionals International (MPI) will introduce the Business Value of Meetings (BVOM) toolbox, a collection of resources created from research findings unveiled at AIBTM in June that indicated meeting and event professionals are challenged with five primary barriers to successfully proving the business value of meetings and events. Full story...

MPI-WI Fall Education Day Coming Up

Kristin Charles, PhD will share a process of event planning that incorporates both creativity and critical thinking. If your creativity gets bogged down by focusing primarily on administrative details, this keynote will help you add creativity to your planning process. Full story...

Social Media Expert Hosts Conference for Independent Event and Meeting Planners

For the fifth year in a row, The Ware Agency will host its annual event and meeting planners training conference, rebranded as Inspire! Imagine! And Ignite! The Event Mastery Conference taking place November 11-12 at the Westin Buckhead. With a heavy emphasis on social media, the conference always attracts planners and event producers from all across the nation and internationally. Full story...

PCMA's CMP Study Day Coming Up

Course is open only to those who have completed and submitted the CMP Application, have received application approval, and are planning to take the January 2012 CMP exam. Registrants must purchase the three recommended study texts for the CMP exam, the Convention Industry Council Manual (8th edition), the Convention Industry Council International Edition (1st Edition) and PCMA’s Professional Meeting Management (5th edition). Full story...

FICP Insider: 10 Talking Points for the 2011 FICP Annual Conference

The Financial & Insurance Conference Planners Board of Directors and 2011 Annual Conference Design Team have been spreading the word about this year’s meeting, set for November 13–16 at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio, and registration numbers are climbing fast. We got the inside scoop on the meeting's top draws. Full story...

Skyline Exhibits to Establish Design Scholarship in Memory of its Founder

In 1980, Gordon Savoie started a business with one simple product and an idea. Today, Skyline Exhibits is one of the highest-profile companies in the exhibiting industry doing business with some of the world's biggest brands in over 40 countries. Savoie, who passed away in August, was key to that evolution. Full story...

Students Operate Online Agency As Part of Studies

Students running their online travel agency out of East High School in Rochester, N.Y., are learning lessons agents have long known about traveling to some of the most popular U.S. destinations. “When they book a flight leaving Rochester at 5:40 in the afternoon and arriving in New Orleans at 11:00 at night, I ask them, ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’” said Jim Spawton, who teaches in the National Academy Foundation’s Hospitality and Tourism Academy within the high school. Full story...

24 Hospitality Students and Industry Professionals Awarded Scholarships

The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF), the not-for-profit affiliate of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), administers three scholarships on behalf of American Express, Ecolab, and PepsiCo. These scholarship programs, totaling $39,000, contribute to AH&LEF’s total of almost $400,000 in academic scholarships awarded annually. Full story...

StarCite Publishes Strategic Meetings Management Handbook

The first true guide book for developing strategic meetings management programs will hit shelves this August with the publication of Strategic Meetings Management Handbook: From Theory to Practice, published by Easton Studio Press and compiled by StarCite. The new book is a revealing, in-depth look at the business dynamics and real-world practice of meetings management. Full story...

Event Camp Is Back in 2011

Have the rare opportunity to collaborate with thought pioneers that are unlocking the secrets of social media, virtual events and mobile technology for meetings and events. They are mavericks, neuroscientists, tech geeks, meeting planners, bloggers, producers, creative directors and regular folks that have captured lightning in a bottle. They are coming to Event Camp Twin Cities to share their ideas, insights and case studies with you. Full story...

Glen Ramsborg Elected Vice Chair of CMP Board for 2012, Chair for 2013

Kendall College School of Hospitality Management Professor Glen C. Ramsborg, Ph.D., CMP, has been elected as the new vice chair of the Certified Meeting Professionals (CMP) Board of Directors for 2012, where he will serve as a voice in upholding the standards of the meeting and event industry. After serving for a year as vice chair, Ramsborg will proceed to the role of chair of the CMP Board for 2013-14. Full story...

Introducing HSMAI’s MEET: The Evolution of Affordable Meetings

Building on more than 20 years of successfully connecting event planners and suppliers, HSMAI’s renowned Affordable Meetings® conference and exhibition is taking on a new name and a new vision. Starting with the National show September 7-8 in Washington, DC and continuting with all events in 2012, meeting and event professionals will be invited to join their hospitality industry colleagues at HSMAI’s MEET: Meetings, Events, Education and Technology. Full story...

MBECS Sets the Standard

What does the unveiling of the Meeting and Business Event Competency Standards mean to you? The first-ever global standards specific to meetings and business events are applicable to all industry career roles. The digest contains 12 major categories (strategic planning, event design, site management) and 33 individual skills (develop mission and goals, engage speakers, design site layout) informed by sub-skills. Full story...

Programs Use High Schools to Fill Hotel Labor Gap

In an industry where the shortage of skilled labor is a recurring issue, hoteliers have but only a handful of choices: accept the dearth of talent; widen the recruiting net; improve the quality of existing staff; or take proactive steps to attract the workforce of tomorrow. At least two U.S.-based hospitality programs are seeing positive results by championing that last approach: the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, and the American Hotel & Lodging Association Educational Institute’s LMP and START programs. Full story...